Flux for protecting a bath of copper or brass.



"UNITED; STATES PATENT OFFICE WALTER snoCEKEY'ANn HILLIARY strainer, orNnw roux, n. 2'.

FLUX son rnocrncrme A BATH or COPPER on BMIASS.

No Drawing.

T all whom it may concern: Be it known that we, \VALTER S. HOCKEY andI'I1LLIARY ELDRIDGE, citizens of the United States, residingat New Yorkcity, 5'in the county of'New York and State of New York, have inventedcertain new-and useful Improvements in F luX for Protecting aBathofCopper or Brass, of'which the following is a full,.cle ar, and exactspecifi'cation. V v

' Our ,invention relates "to aprocess for making a protecting flux, foruse in plating single articles'of'iron, cast iron, malleable iron, orsteel with copper or brass. .15 Provide an iron pot sriverpl-ated on theinside for the purpose of boiling thewater 1011i .0f*bOI'ilClC\'aC1d;the reason for-silver plating the iron pot on the inside is to pre-"i'ent 'al'iyoxidation of the iron of the pot by the water that isin-the boracic acid.- The oxygen of-the water,.at a low heat, combin-'ing with theiron of the pot, forms iron oxid which is detrimental "togood copper or brass.

plating. Silver gt a low-heatdoes not .dezs'comp'ose water, andfor thisreason we silver platez the iron pot on the inside. Boil b0 I ra'cicacid in tlns pot at a low heat until all steaiii ceases to pass ofiythen transfer the horacicacid from the iron pot into an alumiaonunoxid, maggp esite'.or magnesium oxid Jcrni'cible, or'a cruciblethatis'used for melting.

lass inglass works, are-good for melting oracic. acid. After theboracic' acid is transferred to the crucible as designated the crucibleis then heated. to a White heat until the molten boracic acid becomesplacid and shows no ebullition'of'hubbles, then the temperature'isreduced to a low red heat, then asufiicient quantity of powdered silicais Etc-added to cause the flux to become. dense and A 'therefo're morenon-,hydroscopic aftercoin- 1621011'85 flux containing moisture or wateris detrimental. ito-good lplating,tl1en asuflicient quantity ofrmeta 1czinc is added to- .45: the massfto decompose the, constitutional waterthirflis sti .A remainingin the boracic acidand the moisture that may bein the -silica.. Af' the zinc is added, cover the crucible with a loose"cover and keep the cover on until the reaction is over; the cessa-'tion of the reaction is denoted by the green flames teasing to pass outfrom underflthe edges of the cover. Whenthey cease-remove,

and stir themass with a clay rod, until all bubbles are eliminated. Thereaction being Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filediDecember 20, 1909. Serial No. 534,005. v

PatentedOct. 4, 1911.

over there now remains in the crucibleia' mixture of boron-trioxidsilica. and zinc' oxid. This mass upon bein heated. to iali highertemperature becomes bro-zinc; si li-' cate. The hydrogenofthewaterhbeingre-m "leased and gaseous, passed off from under the coverduring the reaction and being ignited by the furnace fire, presented thea pearance of green flames on'accountof-t e hydrogen being impregnatedwith boron trioxid or its impurities which 'changed the hydrogen bluecolor to a green. ,The flux now being ready for use can be reserved forfuture use by pouring it out o the crucible while still molten intoclean iron-re ceptacle, silver plated on the'inside, which is providedwith an air tight'cover. But, however, should it'be desired to usetheflu'x at once for plating, or plating and weldilh then putxinto thecrucible while it is stillv in the furnace and the flux is still moltenthe copper or brass with which it is desired to plate. Care must betaken when the copper or brass is putinto the crucible tofsee that it iswell covered by the flux, for if any of the copperor brass shouldrotrude above the surface of the flux it wil oxidize. The"- temperatureshould then'be regulated to'just above the'fusing point of the copper orbrass: whichis being melted and kept at that tem- 'perature until thecop er or brass has-be come thoroughly fuse and liquid Thenimmerse achemically cleaned plece of sheet iron or other forms of iron or steelinto the w oxidized wheirwithdrawn fro1n.the bath. 1

'This covering of flux is detachable andis removed from the copper orbrassplated iron-or steel after aling ami' 'is remeltedj .108

and is again used for-plating. Insteadof using metallic zinc todecompose the "con ..St 1hlltl0ll1ll. 'waLer-nwehcau use carbon,cadmium, antimony, bismuth p rdany of the eleenents-that decompose waterat a red or white heat.

Having thus described our invention what vwe claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is;

l. The process of making a protecting flux for copper or brassconsisting in first placing boracic acid in a silver lined pot andreducing sameto .a fluid condition by heat, then transferring saidboracic acid to a suitable crucible and heating said acid until itbecomes placid, then adding silica to cause the mixture to become morenon- -metallic zinc suflicient to decompose the re-' hydroscopic aftercompletion, then adding maining constitutional water of the boracicacid-and the moisture that ma be in the 2. The process of making a fluxwhich I consists in first boiling boracic acid in'an iron pot, silverplated on the inside, at a low temperature until it ceases to emitste'am, then transferring same to a suitable crucible and heating at awhite heat until it becomes placid, then reducing thetemperature to abright red heat, then' adding a sufficient quantity of silica to causethe mixture to become 'more non-hydroscopic after completion, thenadding a sufficient quantity of metallic zinc to decompose the remainingWater of the boracic acid and the moisture that may be in the silica. I

3. The process-of making a flux for plating with copper or brass whichconsists in boiling boracic acid in an iron pot, silver plated on theinside, at a low temperature until all steam ceases to come ofi, thentransferring same into a suitable crucible and heating at a whiteheat'until it becomes placid, then reducingthe temperature to a brightredheat, then adding silica to cause after completion, then adding asuflicient quantity of zinc in'a divided stateto. decompose theremaining water of the boracic acid and the moisture that may be ;in thesilica and then stirring the mass with a suitable rod until all reactionceases, then raisthe boron trioxid, silica and zinc oxid, which composethe mass, into a boro-z inc silicate. v 4. The process of making aprotecting ,fiux for copper or brass consisting-inleducing boracic acidto a fluid condition by heat and then adding silica to cause themixcomplction; then adding a suitable material such as metallic zinc,carbon, cadmium,- anthe mixture to become more non-hydrosco'pic ture to:become more no11'-hydroscopic after 7 In testimony whereof, we afiixoursigna ing the heat to a high temperature to fuse timony, bismuth, or anyof the elements that

